1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates generally to a winch cable rewind guide and, more specifically, to a rewind guide which is a handheld for guiding a cable being wound onto a powered winch drum.
2. Description of the Related Art
When rewinding untensioned cable, rope, wire or similar flexible strand material onto a winch drum such as one powered by a hydraulic motor, electric motor or manually, the strand being rewound frequently results in convolutions of the coiled strand not being located in a side-by-side contacting relationship. Rather, the spiral convolutions or coils of the strand are frequently spaced apart, cross over each other and wind on top of each other in an uneven pattern. One conventional method of guiding a cable when it is being rewound is to grip the cable with one or both hands to apply tension on the cable and also orient the convolutions of the cable being coiled onto the winch drum in spiral contacting relationship. Work gloves with leather reinforced palms are usually employed to reduce the possibility of injury to the hands of the person guiding the cable.
In addition, various devices have been developed to guide or control rewinding of flexible strands on a spool or drum. For example, levelwind devices have been developed for guiding flexible fishing line onto a reel when rewinding the fishing line. However, such mechanical devices generally have not been successful with rewinding cable on a powered winch drum, such as when mounted on a vehicle or the like, since the angle of approach of the cable to the winch drum is not constant as occurs in a fishing line being guided onto a reel or spool. Frequently, when rewinding a cable onto a powered winch drum, the cable approaches the drum from various angles other than perpendicular to the rotational axis of the winch drum. This requires manual guidance of the cable and application of tension on the cable so that the convolutions of the cable on the drum will snugly engage the drum and also be oriented in an adjacent or contacting spiral relation to each other.